Improvement in knitting-machines



Z Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. M. SLACK. KNITTINGFMAGHINE.

Patented May15,1877'.

luz/actor, M 22;

A fmesse's METERS, PHOO-THUGRAPHER, WASHINGTDN. D C.'

ZSheets-Sheet 2. J'. M. SLACK.

KNITTING-MACHINE. No. 190,694. Patented May15, 1877.

NPEIERS, PHOTOJJTHDQRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. `C.

"UNITED STATES PATENT @Friet-1 JAMES M. SLAOK, OF BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR` TO JULIA M. SLACK, OF SAME PLACE.

.IMPROVEMENT IN KNlTTING-MACHINES.

Speciication forming part of Letters Patent No. 90,694, dated May 15, 1877; application led December 21, 1876.

To` all whom away-concern:

. Beit known that I, JAMES M. SLAOK, of Bristol, in the county of Bucks-and State of Pennsylvania, have invented -zan -Improved Knitting-Machine;- land I do'hereby declare thatthev following is `a full and :exact description thereof,-referenc.e being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification- Figure l being a side elevation of acircular knittin gf machinefprovidedwith improvements, a part of :the frame Abeingremoved-by section to show the operative parts within; Fig. 2, a top view of the; same, 1a part -being removed by section to `showfparts of the mechanism otherwise hidden.; `Fig. 3, a -viewiof .certain parts in detail. I

Like letters 'designatecorrespondin g parts in all of= the iigures. The-purposeof my improvements in knitting-machines-isttoiknit fabrics in .alternate stripes of different colors, -sand .to -automaticallyseiiectfthe ,zchange from one to another color of yarn without stopping nthe machine or breaking the yarns, as also to produce stripes of varying widths according to apreviously-determined pattern or design.

The natureof .my invention consists, irst, in the employment of shifting yarn-carriers, one for each :color of yarn used, in combination with azstationaryyarn-.guide arranged `to hold `the yarns. successively in proper position for the needles to take the same, the said yarn-carriers being alternately moved .to pass the yarn between the needles from the front to the back of the-same, and hold it for the time in that-position, so as not to .knit ywith that yarn, whileatthe same time the other or another yarn carrier is moved `from back to the front of the needles, so -assto-.pass the yarn into position .for knitting as .long as required to knit withithat :color of yarn before-.thenext shifting of -thesaid yarn-carriers yin reverse directions; second, in-combining with the levers ory equivalent means by -whichthe yarncarriers are -moved,-ca'm and pattern wheels operated automatically by the revolving needie-cylinder, or invunison therewith, whereby the dierentv .yarnsare brought .successively into position .-for `knitting them according to a predetermined pattern or style ot' stripes, thc construction and operation of parts conducing to my invention being substantially as hereinafter specified.

The drawings represent a circular latchneedle knitting-machine making a tubular fabric, my improvements being applied thereto for producing a striped fabric of twocolors, A being the revolving needle-cylinder, B the driving-wheel, and C 'the stationary needlecam cylinder. yTwo yarn or thread carriers, D E, are employed, one for one color and the other for another color of yarn or thread.

These yarn carriers are represented as mounted in a support, G, wherein each can slide independently toward and from the needle-cylinder, over the needles a a, so as to carry their` yarn-eyes b c alternately behind the needles and to the front of them, one always being behind while the other is in front ofthe needles; thus the yarn-carrier that is moved to present the yarn-eye back of the needles, while iu that position holds the yarn so that the needles cannot seize it, and the yarn-carrier which is moved to present the yarn-eye at the front of the needles; holds the yarn so that the needles catch it and knit therewith. This is effected by the assistance of a stationary yarn-guide, S, arranged substantially as shown, so that as either yarn or thread is brought forward to position it is held by this guide always in the right position to be seized by the needles; at the same time it does not interfere with the shifting of the yarns by the yarn-carriers. In making the change of position of the carriers they are so operated as to cause both yarns to lap together over one or more needles, as the change from one to another color is being made, so that the yarns are interlocked, and no stitch is dropped, the yarn never being broken, but floating on the inside of the fabric from one stripe to the next stripe oi' its own color.

The means which I have adopted for giving the said alternating movements to the yarn-carriers, and guiding their movements automatically, according to a predetermined pattern or design, I have represented in the accompanying drawings, and describe as follow-s:

With each yarn-carrier, in a convenient position, is connected a lever, H, through which to impart the requisite intermittent reciprocating movements to the said yarn-carriers. The levers are pivoted at a suitable point, d, to the frame or a fixed part of the machine, and the other arms of the levers curve or bend around the periphery of a pair of camwheels, I l, one opposite to each lever. These cam- Wheels are connected together, or turn simultaneously, each having alternate notches` and projectionsff and g g, at uniform distances apart, and the two are so arranged that the notchesff of one wheel are opposite to, or side by side with, the projections g g of the other. A cam-point or projection, h, is formed on each lever H adjacent to its cam-wheel, and so formed and arranged that it can enter the notches ff thereof, or can simply bear against the outer surface of the projections g g, as shown. Springs t' 'i draw and hold the levers against the respective cam-wheels, the cam-point of one lever always being drawn into a notch of its camwheel at the same movement of it and its shaft as that by which the cam-point ofthe other lever is brought to bear against a projection of its cam-wheel. When a cam-point is drawn into a notch,f, the carrier, as D of its lever, is moved to a position to pass its yarn back of the needles. and not to be knit; but when the cam-point of a lever is forced outward by the partial revolution of its cam-wheel, so that it bears against the surface of a projection, g, the carrier, as E, with which the said lever is connected, is moved forward or outward, so as to hold its yarn in front of the needles, and in position to be knit thereby. The projectionsggoperate as cams to force the campoints of the levers outward by the partial revolution of the cam-wheels.

This construction ofthe cam-wheels requires that an intermittent motion be imparted to them on their axis equal in extent at each movement to the angular radial distance between the center of a notch,f, and the center of a projection, g, adjacent or to half the distance between the centers ottwo successive notches or projections, whenever the yarncarriers are to be shifted, since, by such a movement, Whichever cam-point is in a notch, f, is forced outward upon a projection, g, and the other campoint is moved from a projection to a notch, whereby both yarn-carriers are shifted at the same time. But the lever, whose cam-point is moved from a notch to a projection begins, and has so far completed its movement, when the other cam-point is moved from a projection to a notch, that the yarn-carrier of the former shall supply yarn over the guide S to the needles before that of the latter leaves them. The lead ofthe outgoing lever is produced by giving a little breadth to the faces of the projections g g, whereby the outgoing movement of the cam-point is slightly hastened, and the ingoing movement thereof is slightly retarded. Hence, the two threads lap over each other one or two needles in making the change, so that there is no loss of stitches and consequent imperfect work produced thereby. To effect this movement of the cam wheels, there is located on the same shaft as, and turning with the said camwheels, a ratchet-wheel, P, having twice as many ratchet-teeth thereon as there are projections or notches on either cam-Wheel. To move this ratchet-wheel a notch at a time, a pawl, Q, takes into the same, and the said pawl is moved by being attached to a vibratory arm, R, pivoted at l to the frame of the machine in a position to be struck by a cam, N, on the needlecylinder or the hollow shaft thereof. The cam moves the said arm in passing at each revolution of the needle-cylinder, to cause the pawl to move the ratchet wheel one notch. The pawl-arm B is retracted by a spring,n.

As thus far constructed,l the mechanism is not complete, since the ratchet-Wheel P, and consequently the cam wheels I I, would be moved, and the yarn-carriers shifted, at each revolution of the needle-cylinder, thus chang-- ing the yarn at each round of stitches. But it is ordinarily desired to make stripes of several rounds in breadth, of each color, and to vary the width of the stripes, so as to produce special and varied designs of goods. To effect this purpose automatically a ratchetwheel or shell-wheel, K, is mounted so as to turn freely on the same shaft as, or concentrically in line with, the ratchet-wheel P. This ratchet-wheel is also driven by a pawl, L, attached to a vibratory lever, M, on the same pivot l, or on a pivot adjacent to it, so as to be vibrated by the same cam N ou the needle-cylinder as the lever B, being also retracted by a spring, m. Thus the ratchetwheel K is moved to the extent of one of its notches at each revolution of the needle-cylinder.

Upon the face of it is a series of patternanges, p p, all arranged in one circle, and projecting far enough to so far cover the teeth of the ratchet-wheel P that they will for the time hold the pawl Q, which rests and rides on them successively, up away from the said ratchet-teeth and prevent its turning the cam-wheels. The several pattern-flanges are of varied lengths according to the design of fabric required, each extending as many ratchet-notches of the ratchet-wheel K, on which they are secured or formed, as there are rounds or corners of stitches to be knit in the stripe then formed.

Between the several adjacent pattern-flan ges there are spaces r r just long enough to allow the pawl Q to drop through and act once on its ratchet-wheel, and then be raised therefrom by the next flange inorder. Thus it will be seen that the yarn-carriers are shifted every time when the pawl Q falls into a space, r, and a succeeding stripe of the other color is then produced alternately, while the pattern-flange is passing along under the pawl Q. The entire number of pattern-danges p p occupying the circuit of the ratchet-wheel K determines the number of stripes in the entire pattern of the fabric, which is repeated at every revolution of the said ratchetwheel. To change the pattern the pattern-wheel is replaced by another producing the new pattern; or one patternwheel may be continually employed, and simply the several patternanges p p be changed o1' replaced thereon,

' being attachable, removable, and adjustable at will.

What I claim as my invention, and desire Y to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a circular knitting machine, the combination of two or more shifting yarn-carriers, D E, actuating-levers H H, cam-wheels I I,

JAMES M. SLAGK. Witnesses:

ELLWooD DoRoN, C. S. BAILEY. 

